


Sonic Forces me to write My Sonic Adventure 3

by superemeralds



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fan Characters, Gen, I'm adding tags as we go, POV First Person, as well as updating the warnings bc im not sure what directoin to go in yet, its my own character so here comes tag, its.. not gadget, well actually its not like. THE avatar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-05-18 02:25:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superemeralds/pseuds/superemeralds
Summary: alternatively just "My Sonic Adventure 3" but i think the sonic forces gives this title a funny kick, don't you?A young husky called Spirit has always dreamed of becoming a hero like his great idol Sonic the Hedgehog. Every day he reads about heroes in magazines or he does research on them on the internet. Taking notes and doing his best to learn from the pros he hopes to become the world's greatest hero himself one day.One day he even gets to meet him in person! And he even believes in this boy's abilities!But suddenly a mysterious villain appears and Spirit's world is not the same anymore...( this was originally a sonic mha au kind of thing because my character reminds me a lot of deku and sonic is his all might, and this kind of got out of control.....)





	1. The Unbreakable Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> "What? Another fic? But Shadow, weren't you already having trouble keeping up with KOA????"
> 
> yes and yes but i hate myself so please enjoy
> 
> its 9am and i didnt sleep all night but that will not stop me from having ideas
> 
> updates will probably come irregular but i'll see how reception is and might prioritize work according to that

Even when real heroes are protecting the world and fighting off the worst of all evil, small crimes still linger in the never fading darkness of society. Where there is light, there is shadows - at least that’s what they always say.

I think it’s wrong to rely on a single person to save the day, but they should be at the front leading the way for everyone else to follow. 

 

This leading greatest and strongest hero in the world is no other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself! 

He is faster than sound and transforms an army of evil robots into scrap metal in just 10 seconds (Miles “Tails” Prower, his little brother, had said so in an interview in the 100th release special collectors edition of the HERO☆ZINE). He saved the world (and universe!) over five times! That is just counting his public missions!

 

Scientists say the high exposure to chaos energy society faced in recent years led to an explosive development of chaos affiliated powers in young mobians. My generation is the one with most recorded occurrences of special abilities to this day.

But despite many people having powers and potential, the government restricts us younger people of doing anything with them. We are not allowed to use our abilities in public and “the act of heroing” is strictly prohibited. The only way to be allowed to use your powers for good is to register, as they call it, “mutations” at GUN. If you’re a child you get taken away from home to be raised by these people so you can freely train your abilities and become a hero under their name. 

 

If that doesn’t sound fishy to you, then I’m honestly very concerned for you.

 

According to studies, GUN already had taken in a lot of people, as the number of “mobian mutant” agents is rising exponentially.

Rumors say that Rouge the Bat was the first “mobian” agent GUN ever had. According to an anonymous intel in the infamous “REAL HEROES” forum she kept causing them so much trouble that they decided to ask her to use her unique abilities for them instead of lousy crimes.

 

Sonic the hedgehog, though? He does whatever he wants. He helps people out of his own generosity and selflessness. Never has he asked to get compensation for his deets. This hedgehog is the world’s greatest hero, leading his allies into battles against evil and inspiring others to do good.

Others like me!

 

One day I want to become a hero as great as him. This was my very dream ever since I can remember! But…

I never told anyone, but I also have a special power. It’s not as flashy as super speed or flight or shooting energy beams, but it is my power and I want to use it for good.

 

I’m using it all the time; in fact, I can’t not use it. It’s permanently activated. My power… I call it “Eye of Chaos”, pretty cool huh? It lets me see the energy flow of chaos in the air, in objects and in people. I can immediately tell how powerful they are and if they have super powers. Additionally, I can tell what kind of energy they use and differentiate what powers they exactly have. 

I know that my power might seem lame (I’ve been bullied a lot in school for “pretending” to have a power by other “mutant” kids) and I can’t do much with it… But I think with hard work and determination I can do it too! 

 

_ I can become a hero! _

 

I said as i trip over my own feet and plant face down into the dirt.

 

I was just walking down the street on my way to the store to get some candy and the newest release of the HERO☆ZINE when suddenly there was a loud sound and I got ripped out of my thoughts.

 

“Ouch…” I mumble as I struggled to get back up on my feet.

What in the world was that…? An earthquake?

 

“Need a hand?” I heard a voice in front of me and grabbed the offering hand that reached out for me.

 

“Thanks…” was all I could bring out as I rubbed the dirt out of my eyes.

 

“You ok there, buddy?” the nice voice asked. It sounded kinda familiar.

 

“Yeah, I just tripped is all…-” I stuttered as I finally dared to look up at who the friendly person was that offered his help.

 

In front of me (while I was still squeezing his hand; and even more now that I realized who he was) was no other than Sonic the Hedgehog! The blue blur in person! 

I wanted to scream but at the same time I felt like I shouldn’t say any word at all anymore, not to make a total fool of myself towards him. 

Awkwardly we remained like this a little longer, while I kept staring at our hands and his face, back at my hand.

 

He didn’t seem to mind much, just looked at me a little confused but quickly understood what was going on. Removing his hand from my deathgrip he took a step back and pointed behind himself.

 

“Alright kid, I’m gonna go check the boom boom over there out. Can you do me a favour in the meantime?” he asked.

 

Me? Doing Sonic the Hedgehog a favour? Was this a dream?

 

“S-sure, Mister Sonic the Hedgehog Sir-!” I mumbled as I tried really hard to tone down my excitedness towards him.

 

“Just call me Sonic!” he laughed. 

Then he gestured over the neighborhood. 

“There are civilians here that could be in danger if this turns out to be another Eggman thing. So I’m asking you to knock on everybody's door and tell them to go south and hide out until the situation calmed down.” 

He put his hand on my shoulder. 

“This is super important - think you’re up for it?”

 

Up for it? I was born for this.

“Yeah, Sonic! I can do it!” I replied eagerly.

 

“Great! What’s your name, kid?” 

 

My name? I don’t like my name. It’s so ordinary and doesn’t fit me at all. If I was going to introduce myself to Sonic of all people, I should chose the name of a hero! A name that people will remember! 

I’ve often thought about a hero name since I was a little kid, but it was never quite it… Sonic Man, Sonic Jr, Neo Sonic… Those were just rip offs of  _ his _ name.

 

“My name is…” I took a deep breath, “I’m Spirit!”

Yeah… That’s a cool name, right?

 

Sonic gave me a thumbs up and smiled.

“Alright, Spirit! I’m counting on you! You’re a real hero.”

He winked and then he was already gone and all that suggested his presence was a cloud of dirt and the trail of his chaos signature from when he activated his “mutation”.

 

I blinked after him but quickly collected myself by slapping my own cheeks a few times. Sonic was counting on me!

 

I did what he told me to, knocked on doors and told people to evacuate; also telling them to do the same.

Then suddenly there was another loud crashing sound. Looking over to the source of whatever that was, I saw another chaos signature appear out of nowhere. It was like none I’ve ever seen before. 

It kept changing color and form constantly. I couldn’t really make out what it was supposed to be. But the most concerning thing was the fact that I could see it from this distance at all. Sonic was practically invisible to me now, but this thing… It must’ve been really powerful.

 

I couldn’t just stand by like this, I needed to get closer to the action. 

Don’t get me wrong, it was a stupid and risky idea - and it ended horribly - but it was also the right thing to do.

 

Just… hear me out for a while.

 

When Sonic headed towards the loud noise he encountered a masked person that was floating a few inches above the ground. The surrounding buildings were completely destroyed and a few even caught on fire. 

 

“What happened here? Are you okay?” Sonic called out as he arrived at the scene.

 

The masked person turned towards him silently, and before he could realize what had happened, Sonic laid face down on the floor with the stranger’s foot forcefully resting on his back.

 

“Wha-!?” was all he could bring out in response before his opponent stepped over him and kicked him in the side.

Without hesitation Sonic charged a spin attack and hit the masked stranger head on. This mysterious dude deflected his attack with a mere wave of his hand and Sonic fell back, landing on his feet.

 

“So you are Sonic the Hedgehog?” a distorted voice escaped the masked face. “The world’s greatest hero?”

 

“Oh nice, a fan.” the blue hedgehog commented as he got ready to get back into the fight.

 

“You are nothing but a pathetic little insect that has the great honor to be crushes by Yours Truly.” With these words the guy in the mask rose  higher above the ground, a ominous red aura surrounding him.

 

Sonic got ready to charge in, but this moment the stranger held out his hand towards Sonic and made a fist. With this, Sonic was trapped in his invisible grip. It tightened more and more and for a moment Sonic really thought he was going to get crushed.

 

I was hiding behind a broken down wall and, quite frankly, I was terrified. My mind kept telling me to run away, get to safety and most of all get help - but my heart (yes I know this sounds super cheesy) told me to stand up and fight!

 

With this I threw a stone at the mask dude and effectively made it slide off his face and fall to the ground, revealing his face. He hung there in the air for a few seconds, completely still and silent.

 

Sonic looked at me and then him and then me again and he looked like he was going to say something along the lines of “Way to go!” or “Nice job!” but the mask guy turned towards me. Alone the look from his two colored eyes (one blue and one gold) left me frozen in fear. 

 

I wanted to run, to hide, to piss my pants if I had worn any to begin with - I regretted everything I’ve ever done in my life up to this point.

 

“You dare…” he mumbled as he picked up his mask and put it back on his face. I was about to burst into tears because I just didn’t know what to do, but Sonic came to the rescue and dashed in front of me.

 

“Fight someone your own size, barky.” he gave me a reassuring glance and then got back into a fighting position.

 

With this they engaged in battle again. The guy with the mask picked up a truck and threw it at Sonic, who could barely dodge.

 

“Dude, really?” he huffed as suddenly a wave of abandoned cars and debris started raining down on him.

 

But… something was not right about those items. Where did they come from? It all happened so fast… And they all had this same weird chaos signature as the guy with the mask.

 

Sonic groaned as he crawled his way out of the debris heap he was buried under now. The mysterious enemy now eyed me instead. He waved his hand and a gigantic boulder came launched at me, taking me with it crashing against the wall behind me, burying me in the debris of that collision.

 

“NO!” Sonic yelled as he finally broke free. “What do you want? Leave the kid alone!” he clenched his teeth.

 

“I want you to come with me…” the masked enemy explained.

 

“Come where?” Sonic asked sceptically.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t tell…” You could hear in his voice that he was smirking. “But thank you for the cooperation.”

 

“Cooperation? I didn’t-” but Sonic couldn’t finish his sentence as his opponent appeared above him out of nowhere and slammed his face into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

 

I crawled out of the hole in the wall that I lied in, I must’ve been able to dodge the direct hit somehow, and looked at the scene before me.

 

The bad guy was holding Sonic up by his neck like some kind of sick trophy. As he noticed me he turned towards me, proudly presenting “his catch”.

 

“Little boy.” he called out. “Tell everyone you know, and don’t know, that the name of the man that defeated Sonic the Hedgehog is Infinite. Infinite the Jackal.”

 

He deliberately took off his mask as he stepped closer to me. His smile was unsettling and the clear and calm voice escaping his unmasked mouth even more.

 

“And tell them that trying to challenge me is suicide.”

 

With these words he and Sonic disappeared into thin air, chaos signature untraceable. And I just sat there on the floor, staring into nothingness, finally letting the tears roll down my face that I held back all this time. 

I cried. I cried hard. Before I knew it I let out an agonizing scream before I passed out from the aftermath of the sheer shock of the previous events.


	2. A Casual Conversation With A Goddess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tails chuckled. "You mean the chaos emeralds?"

When I suddenly snapped awake I found myself in a stranger’s bed. It looked self-build and the sheets had a cute space pattern on it (I asked where I could get one like that later it was REALLY cute). Additionally, there was a glass of water on the bed-stand. It was placed on a handwritten note that said “Come downstairs when you wake up.”.

 

I shook my head and sat up on the edge of the bed. What happened? Why was I here?

 

That moment I remembered the masked villain - Infinite! 

I grabbed my chest as I suddenly felt a stinging pain but as soon as I felt it, it was gone again. He attacked me with a huge boulder, it should’ve hurt. I should be heavily wounded. There’s no way I was able to just dodge  **that** . Back then I… I literally felt the boulder pushing me backwards against the wall!

Maybe I was just really, really lucky? Or it was this weird energy surrounding the debris that protected me? Either way it would be better to discuss this with whoever saved me from the scene!

 

WIth this thought I jumped off the bed and walked towards the door. On the other side of the door was a small wooden sign that had a bunch of hand drawn stars over it and the words “guest room” neatly placed in the middle. The hallway was small and the stairs were directly left to my door. You could see down into the living room from here, but it didn’t look like anyone was there.

I decided not to be snoopy and just go straight down like I was told to to avoid any trouble I could get in. Connected to the living area, separated through a big electric gate, which was opened at that time, was the garage with a red twin-seat-twin-wing plane being parked. As I walked  down the stairs and got a closer look at the room I could see traces of Sonic’s energy signature on the couch. He must’ve hung out at this place often - that meant this was one of this friends’ home!?

 

“H-Hello?” I cautiously tried to show I was awake to whoever this place belonged to. “Anyone there?”

 

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you come down!” a muffled voice said from behind. 

I turned around and a two tailed fox boy, probably four years younger than me, approached me while cleaning the oil off his hands with an old towel. He must’ve worked on the plane.

“You recovered really quickly! I’m glad you seem to be okay!”

He put the towel away and walked towards the kitchen, signaling me to follow.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as he gestured to a chair at the table.

 

“A little… Thanks.” I hesitated but then sat down. 

This must be Sonic’s brother Tails…! But there was no time to be excited - how in chaos’ name should I explain the situation to  **him** .

 

I looked over to him nervously and watched him heat up some kind of hot dogs in the microwave. 

“What’s your name?” he asked while waiting for the food to warm up.

 

“I’m Spirit!” I answered. “You must be Tails! I’ve read a lot about you and your theses on chaos and how you use it with your machines!”

 

“O-Oh? I didn’t know other people were actually interested in that…” he blushed as he turned away to get the food. Still a little flustered he walked up to me and placed a plate in front of me while sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

“What do you think?”

 

“I don’t really understand most of the technical stuff but you have a very good idea of chaos!” I sniffed at the hot dog he just gave me. “But your theory has some flaws; you seem to have missed the big picture.”

 

Tails used a napkin to hold his hot dog and took a bite. 

“What do you mean I missed the big picture? I’ve done many complicated measurements and I double and triple checked everything.”

 

I decided to take a bite myself and decided that this stuff was actually good.

“You see, chaos doesn’t just come in one form. There are three main states to chaos, neutral, negative and positive, but they all can be broken down into even more specific elemental and universal properties.”

 

“How do you know with such certainty? I’ve never measured anything like this before! And not even Knuckles could give me such a detailed description of what chaos really is…” Tails sounded very sceptic, as I had already expected. Nobody believed me when I told them what I knew about chaos. It’s not my fault they couldn’t see it.

 

“I have the power to see the flow of chaos through the universe. And yeah I know this sounds made up and super lame, but it’s the truth” I mumbled between my bites.

 

“Are you kidding? This sounds absolutely amazing!” Tails replied. He looked very excited about this and smiled brightly.

“Does that mean you know where Sonic went to? Or is it hard to track people?”

 

Shit.

 

“Um… It depends on if they have a distinct powerful signature. Sonic for example has a very unique blue blur around him and he leaves a faint trail for a short amount of time when he runs off somewhere. I can also tell he sits on the couch a lot because some of his energy has rubbed off on it.” The more I danced around the univetible the worse…

 

“That sounds really handy… Did you see where he took off at? We found you alone at the scene.” Tails picked up my plate to bring it to the kitchen, now that we finished our food.

 

“Well, that…” I swallowed. “The bad guy took him. And they disappeared without a trace.”

Tails dropped the plates.

“This dude, Infinite, was extremely powerful. I couldn’t tell what his powers were, he could do pretty much anything he wanted. Fly, teleport, shoot energy beams, telekinesis - you name it! He was also super fast and strong! Sonic needed help, but I ended up being more of a burden…”

 

“You mean… Sonic… Lost?” Tails stuttered in disbelief.

 

“I’m afraid so…” I looked down. “But the signature of Infinite was very distinct and I could see it from a great distance. I should be able to find him somehow! I-I don’t know how to expand my vision from only the things I can see with my naked eyes but-! I’ll do my best!”

 

The fox boy hastily cleaned up the mess he made. 

“I- You’re right. Sonic wouldn’t want me to panic.”

He threw the broken dishes away.

“Sonic… He would seize the opportunities in front of him and not waste time to save a friend in need!”

 

“Yeah!” I commented eagerly. That was exactly my thought.

 

Tails walked towards his plane. “Let’s take the tornado and fly around the area. Maybe they didn’t get that far and you can still track them down!”

 

I turned towards him and was ready to get up when suddenly, very dimly, I could see that… That real life glitch again. It was Infinite. He was coming this way. Just… Why? Because Tails was Sonic’s friend?

That was when I looked at the tornado and immediately recognized the glow of the chaos emerald inside.

 

“Tails, we need to take the emerald and leave.” I tried not to sound scared, but my voice was trembling nonetheless.

 

“How did you… Nevermind.” He reached into a secret compartment in the plane. “What’s the matter? Where are we going?”

 

I saw the weird glitchy colors become “clearer” as they came closer and opened the door. “I don’t know if this guy can see or feel chaos signatures too, but let’s hope he doesn’t.” I waved for Tails to follow. “We should run as far as we can and then hide. You know the area so lead the way!”

 

We walked out of the house and closed the door behind us. Tails ran ahead, his tails wailing around but then he took a big leap off a small cliff and was flying in the air by….  **somehow** propelling his tails. 

I didn’t give it much thought as a certain video game hero from one of my favourite games propels his  _ hair  _ to glide through the air.

 

I did my best to keep up but this fox was  **fast** .

“Where are we going?” I asked half out out breath as I looked back checking how close Infinite was to the house.

 

“A place that not many people know of.” Tails replied as he flew into a cave.

The chaos emerald gave us the light we needed to see in the dark. As if he studied these halls, Tails lead me through this cave with ease until I saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

We arrived at a cliff with pretty plants and a cute little pond. After taking a closer look I noticed cute little bean creatures playing in the water. As they realized that we arrived they chirped happily and came flying.

“Hey there, buddies!” Tails exclaimed. “Sorry but we’re not here to play today.”

 

“Those are chao, right?” I asked, just to be sure, as I followed tails to the far back of the garden to a stone thingie that looked like it could be some kind of ruins of an old temple.

 

“Yes! Do they look special to you?” he asked as he lead me up the broken stairs.

 

“They have weak auras in their respective parent energy, but their chests all glow as if their energy is exclusively stored in their core.” I explained.

 

“Interesting..:” the orange fox mumbled. “Okay now hold my hand.”

 

I took his hand confused and looked at him. As Tails and I stepped to the top the emerald reacted and within a split second we had been teleported to another location.

  
“Woha, can you use chaos control?” I asked with wide eyes as I examined the new area.

 

Tails chuckled. “I wish I could… This specific temple is just a connection between Angel Island and the mainland.”

 

“Oh so the floor glowing was not just cool decoration.” I admitted. After Tails gave me a confused look I decided to add more context. “You never know in this day and age. People love glowy things.”

 

I took another look around and spotted an incredibly bright and powerful chaos signature. It was as if the sun was just an arms length away from me. “What is that?” I asked, but then remembered that Tails can’t see it. “This extremely powerful energy?”

 

The fox boy snapped excitedly. “That must be the Master Emerald! Maybe you or knuckles can use it to find Sonic!”

We rushed towards the light, though I had great trouble going towards it. I really wished I could control my ability back then.

 

“Knuckles! Terrible news!” Tails yelled as he flew up the temple.

 

“Huh? Whaddaya mean terrible news?” A red echidna sat up, as he had been leaning on the power source before. It was so bright that, if I didn’t know what it was, I could not have told.

 

The echidna’s, Knuckles’, heart was connected to the Master Emerald. A strange bond, but I was hoping someone would explain it in time.

I was just trying not to freak out at seeing another of Sonic's close friends… All this excitement made me forget about Infinite for a minute, but I quickly snapped back into reality when Tails elbowed me. “Tell him what you saw.” He insisted.

 

“Okay so, there's this guy, Infinite, who's like extremely strong. His powers were beyond anything I've ever seen, he could do just anything with a wink of his hands. He managed to beat Sonic and disappear with him without a trace. Now he came flying towards Tails’ place for the emerald but I don't know if he can see or feel chaos like I can.” I explained.

 

“You can see chaos?” Knuckles asked surprised. “And you're telling me Sonic has been defeated?”

 

Tails nod. “What he said should be true!”

 

Knuckles clenched his fists. “That Sonic… dares to lose to some random guy!”

 

“To his defense he was extremely strong. He told me to tell everyone I know that 'trying to beat him was suicide’, so he certainly is brutally powerful.” I defended Sonic. There must be a trick to his power, an amplifier or something that should be destroyed.

 

“I’m sure Sonic can beat him! We just need to find out where he is, Spirit.” He then turned to Knuckles. “Do you think you can use the Master Emerald to find Sonic?”

 

Knuckles crossed his arms and shook his head. “As much as I’d love to, even just trying to locate all Chaos Emeralds is still a thing I need more practice on, so finding people is out of question.” Then he looked at me. “But if this kid is already a natural at seeing chaos signatures… Maybe the Master will allow him to use his power.”

 

“M-me?” I was flustered that he already considered me. He took me seriously- and even insisted I was the only one who could do it! But… “To be honest I’ve never tried to track anyone beyond what I can see… I don't know how to do that.”

 

Knuckles took me by the hand and lead me to the giant green jewel at the center of the temple. “Have you ever tried seeing with your eyes closed?” he asked.

 

“Seeing with my eyes closed? No! Of course not! I often close my eyes because I see too much! It's exhausting to see light  _ everywhere _ .” I protested.

 

“So you can't control your power, yet, huh?” Knuckles scoffed as he lifted my hand towards the emerald. “Maybe she can help you.”

 

“Who?” I mumbled as I closed my eyes shut at the immense blinding light. 

 

Suddenly I felt warm, and I didn't see the stinging light through my eyelids. I opened my eyes and found myself floating in a sea of greens and many sparkling stars. I could still feel the gentle, and at the same time burning, sensation of touching the stone on my hand, but it was like my soul was separate from my body right now.

 

“Welcome, seeker.” A soft voice spoke to me from all around me. I turned, scanning the entire area for it until suddenly an echidna appeared before me. “In order to find what you seek, you need to find yourself, first.”

 

I was at a loss of words. I didn't understand what she meant at all and I was still trying to process this entire situation. A Goddess was speaking to me right now. Alright.

 

“Chaos is power, power that is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos.” She shook her head. “As long as you keep relying on your eyes you will remain blind to the truth.”

 

“That sounds, like, super philosophical. And I super very much appreciate your advice… But can you please explain it in a way that I understand? I'm really bad at riddles.” Right after having spoken it out loud I regretted having a voice and I wanted nothing more than to let go of the stone and never talk to her again.

 

She stared at me a little, as if she was trying to guess a manner of speech that I was able to understand. “Dude, you gotta stop relying on what you can see with your eyes and more on what you can see with your heart. Your power is more than just special eyes.”

 

These words did not fit her mouth at all but I did understand, I thought.

I’ve always preached about how chaos is more than we think, because I could  _ see _ it. But I forgot that there was more to it than what I saw. It’s not just pretty lights, it’s energy. LIfe force. Power. 

Chaos is everywhere and if I concentrated more on the feel of it, then I should be able to find Sonic.

 

The goddess looked pleased when she saw my thinking expression and the smile I made when I had my ‘Aha’ moment. She was about to disappear but I wanted to know one thing before that.

 

“Are you Chaos?” I asked.

 

“I’m afraid not, but I am honored you assumed so. This makes me very happy.” she smiled a little flusted. I suppose the people she normally talked to knew who she was. “You should hurry up, your friends are waiting.” With this she disappeared in a bright light and I had to close my eyes again.

 

Suddenly I found my consciousness back in my real body, still touching the Master Emerald with my right hand. 

Determined I placed both hands on the emerald and closed my eyes. Sonic. I need to find Sonic. With the help of the emerald I could scan the entire continent, and… I couldn’t find him. More! I need to work harder! I clenched my teeth and tried to concentrate as hard as I could on his signature. The emerald reacted and granted me the power to see over the entire planet for a second.

And then I saw…  _ him _ .

But this was impossible he- How!?

In shock i let go of the emerald and collapsed to the ground. I tried to catch my breath as Tails and Knuckles rushed to stabilize me.

 

“What did you see?” Knuckles asked.

 

“Did you find Sonic?” Tails insisted.

 

“No…” I muttered. “Sonic vanished from the face of this earth without a single trace.”

 

Both looked at me shocked. Knuckles even pushed me a little and I almost fell down the flight of stairs, but Tails caught me and yanked at my arm.

 

“This is impossible! This can’t be true!” Tails cried.

 

I put my own hand on his that was very shakily and tightly gripping my arm.

 

“What I saw was… Infinite.” I looked between the two and swallowed. “Seemingly… infinite versions of him all over the planet.”

 

“You're joking.” Knuckles pouted.

 

“I wish I was, but in the split second I could oversee the planet I got a glimpse of Infinite’s power and… he does stay true to his name. It is infinite.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm literally making the story up as I go so don't be mad at me if there end up being plotholes in the end this whole story is just for fun and practise writing characters i dont normally write thanks  
> this is also villain practise bc im. ive never created a villain and im super inexperienced in this.


	3. How To Embarrass Yourself In Front Of Your Idols 101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> added image because I've been doodling and I really really like it and it's cool to see what Spirit sees. Visualization is important to me, hence the reason I'm a comic artist and not the best writer sakjfhsakj (but im also lazy so yall just getting this is text form)
> 
> I'll include pictures of what spirit can see in the future too if yall cool with that
> 
> also reminder that I'm literally making the story up as i go this is just a silly experiment

The yellow fox and the red echidna were still staring at me in denial.

 

“Sonic can't be dead! Don't pull any pranks!” Knuckles got all fired up.

 

“I never said he was dead, Knuckles. He just… doesn't exist anymore. At least not here on earth.” I said helplessly. I couldn't imagine him being transported to another planet, but I was ready to accept it if it meant he wasn't… dead.

 

“Not on earth…” Tails mumbled. “Does Eggman have a space base again?”

 

“How do we know this is connected to the egg, though?” I asked sceptically. After all Eggman was not present at the initial attack.

 

“Thinking logically, why would Infinite be after Sonic specifically if it was not an order from Eggman?” Tails explained. 

 

“Because he is the greatest hero in the whole world?” I tried to counter, but it evidently was a weak argument. Tails and Knuckles knew what they were talking about I shouldn't doubt their judgement.

 

“Assuming so, we need to find that place and take it down. The only other person able to do that besides Sonic is Shadow.” Knuckles crossed his arms. “If that guy is after the Chaos Emeralds, I’ll stay here to oversee the situation, y'know, locate them all and make sure we find them first and be ready to prevent the worst outcome!” He then hit his palm with his fist. “I'm leaving this to you Tails!”

 

Tails tried to smile but it was fairly obvious that he was scared. “I’ll do my best! Sonic believed in me before so I can't let him down!” He turned to me. “Spirit, you can help me, right?”

 

“I’ll do what I can!” I replied eagerly. I thought back to the vision I had when i searched for Sonic. Infinite destroying major cities and causing terror… “Where do we go? We can't forget that we need to be careful since we have such a strong enemy.”

 

“Don't worry.” Tails tried to sound reassuring as we walked back to the temple to get back to his house for the plane. “We have the ultimate life form on our side.”

 

I didn't know what he meant by that but I took him by his word. 

 

As we got back the the chao garden I looked around for Infinite but he seemed to be gone. Relieved we walked back to Tails’ place and mounted his plane. It took a while but we were on our way to central city to meet up with the elite force of GUN.

 

As we got closer to the city's region I started seeing the glitches again. “Tails! Infinite is here!” I called out as suddenly we could see the chaos that was caused. Military troops on the street shooting at those.. glitch robots. 

It almost seemed like the military was the ones that caused most of the destruction with their counter attacks.

 

Suddenly we felt an impact and we realized we got attacked. Tails tried his best to land the plane without a total crash. More debris came flying upwards towards us. “Hold on tight!” Tails yelled as he did a risky maneuver to dodge and ultimately crash landed the plane in a big street. 

 

Eggman robots EVERYWHERE but they all had those glitches to them. They were probably either controlled by Infinite or powered with the same strange energy. 

 

When one turned to attack us a fierce white whirlwind kicked it away. “Hey boys, care to join the party?” A white bat in a skintight suit with hearts all over it waved at us as she stomped on the remains of that robot.

 

“Rouge the bat!” I exclaimed excitedly. “Number one leading female hero and fan favourite of the HERO★ZINE!” I forgot about the crash landing and the robots and jumped out of my seat to shake her hand. “It's such an honor to meet you!”

 

“Oh, wow! A fan! Can you believe this, fox boy?” She smiled amused. “Sorry to break it to you, but a war just broke out and I’m kinda needed. You should help out where you can, too.” She shook her head and then looked to the battlefield. “We need any help we can get.”

There suddenly was a huge explosion and energy beams shot past us, barely missing but exploding with an incredible force right behind us.

 

It was Infinite himself again.

 

“You… I remember you.” He pointed at me from above, looking down on us like we were squashable little insects. “It looks like you didn't forward my message, what a shame… they all have to die because of you.”

 

I swallowed.

 

“As if I’m going to buy into your bluffing, rat face.” Rouge casually commented before dashing off into the air and swiftly kicking him into oblivion. She was absolutely amazing! 

 

But something was wrong… his signature disappeared as he crashed into that wall. But all of the sudden he appeared from behind her to force her to the ground. “I am Infinite! Infinite the Jackal! Learn to fear this name!” He yelled through his mask. “I am the one and only ultimate life form! Resistance is suicide!”

 

Ultimate life form? But didn't Tails say…?

 

In this very moment there was a bright flash of light and I had to close my eyes for a second. When I opened them again I couldn't believe my eyes.

 

It was an angel. A black silhouette stood in the clouds of dust, but their halo was shining golden and bright they stood upright and fierce like they just came down from the heavens to punish this heathen for making such bold assumptions.

  
  


“Ultimate life form? Don't make me laugh.” Their voice was deep and relaxed, also had an amused ring to it. As suddenly as they appeared they were gone again, and their halo shone brighter than Infinites glitches until they completely disappeared.

 

“Is everyone okay?” As the dust drifted apart and the angel turned towards us. They were a black hedgehog with red stripes and red eyes, and now that I actually got a closer look I realized that this was actually the rumored Shadow the Hedgehog!

 

He is a underground hero, who hates media and formalities. According to witnesses he refuses to accept the title of a hero. I think Rouge once explained in an interview that he was just incredibly humble and had a lot of stuff happen to him in the past that shaped this view of himself and heroism.

 

Either way, I thought he was incredibly cool and heroic.

 

“Could've shown up sooner.” Rouge scoffed. She teasingly tackled him but Shadow stood firm.

“Sorry, but there were a bunch of those all over the city. This one was more chatty, though.” His voice was calm, yet a very certain kind of worry could be heard in it. His expression wouldn't ever give that away, though.

 

“Shadow the Hedgehog!” I stumbled forwards but hesitated once I stood before him. I couldn't just take his hand… I resorted to bowing to him. “It's an honor to meet you! Along with Sonic you are one of my biggest Idols.” Awkward?

 

“Find yourself a better idol, kid.” He replied as he motioned for me to let the bowing be. “Where is the blue wind for brains anyway? He’s always the first in the front lines in times like this.” He looked at Tails now.

 

Awkward...

 

Then suddenly there was another explosion as more military troops moved into battle.

 

“GUN should have this under control for now, let's go somewhere safe to discuss this matter.” Tails sounded like he was choosing his words very very carefully.

 

As if magically drawn to him, the emerald in Tails’ hands floated over towards Shadow, while he also summoned another one out of thin air. “I’m going to have to borrow this, then.” He stated coldly. Upon touching the second emerald he let out a pulse of energy that only I could feel and in a flash space and time folded in front of my eyes and unraveled again. 

It was one of those blink and you miss it moments.

 

This was Chaos Control.

 

After the light disappeared I tried to get a quick overview of where we were. The sparse interior led me to believe this was a secured room in a GUN building.

 

“So what?” Shadow let his emerald go again. “What happened?”

 

“Oh boy, it's a wild story…” I laughed nervously. “I was just out to buy snacks yesterday and then suddenly I met Sonic on the way and he was real nice to me - though you should know, since he's your friend-”

 

“Get to the point, kid.” Shadow growled, arms crossed and his left foot tapping on the floor impatiently.

 

“Yeah right! So this dude, Infinite, shows up and makes everything go BOOM and he's fighting Sonic and he does this teleporting swoosh and Sonic didn't stand a chance, but then I threw a rock at him and he got mad and Sonic saved me, but then the mask guy got him!!! And he was really scary like. Super creepy kinda scary.”

 

“Sonic was defeated?” Shadows eyes widened. “This is serious business, kid. Are you telling the truth?”

 

“He held Sonic up by the neck and said 'challenging me is suicide’ and poof! Disappeared with his weird glitches.”

 

“Just like that? Glitches? What are you talking about?” Shadow seemed to be very irritated, he rubbed his temples as if he just got a real bad headache.

 

“I can see chaos energy, and this guy's energy signature it… it's just like computer glitches.” 

 

“You can see chaos, just like that?” 

 

“Well, yeah. I can't not see it it's kinda annoyi-”

 

Shadow oet out a groan. “It took me years to learn this and now we're meeting a kid who was born with this ability.” He didn't look frustrated though, he was… smiling?

 

“Regarding Sonic…” Tails pressed. “Spirit tried his best to locate him with the help of the Master Emerald, but apparently Sonic has been completely wiped from the face of this earth.” He looked very distressed when speaking those words out loud.

 

This very moment the monitor in this room flickered on and to be seen was a fat bald man with a really big brunette moustache who started to laugh like he was santa claus.

 

Tails was the first to remark his appearance. “Doctor Eggman!” he exclaimed.

 

“Finally the doctor shows himself…” Rouge muttered as she pressed something on her wristband and suddenly a holographic computer screen appeared which she started meddling with. “It seems this is being broadcasted  on every channel in a global range.”

 

“Attention citizens of the world and world leaders! From this day on the planet Earth is considered as Eggman Empire. Hand over authority to me voluntarily or else…” he stepped away from the camera a little and to his side appeared video footage of Infinite and eggman robots destroying westopolis, Empire City, Spagonia City, Shamar City… It was a horrible image. Who would’ve thought this was possible? “My new super weapon will make short process of you and I’ll get what I wanted anyways! And don’t you waste your time hoping Sonic will save you this time, because I personally took care of that pesky little rodent! Hohohoho!”

 

So this was doctor Eggman, Sonic’s arch nemesis… This confirmed that Infinite was connected to him!

 

Suddenly I heard Shadow let out a small gasp. “I know this place…” he muttered to himself.

 

“Eggman is somewhere you’ve been before?” I asked, but the emeralds appeared in Shadow’s hands and he disappeared with them, without saying a word about where exactly that place was supposed to be.

 

Rouge stared at the screen to make out what exactly it was Shadow was seeing, but before she could make up her mind about it the image disappeared.

 

“Where’d he go? What can we do now?” I turned to Rouge and Tails. “Is he at least going to be okay on his own?”

 

“I think Shadow is the last person anyone should worry about, he is the ultimate life form after all.” he tried to look hopeful. “Maybe, if he can confront Eggman, he can find out where Sonic is and help him.”

 

“I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s doing right now, so let’s focus more on doing what we can here in the city.” Rouge put her hands on her hips.

 

“That’s right!” Tails collected himself again. “Sonic would do whatever he can to resist and fight back!”

 

“That’s the spirit, captain.” the white bat smiled encouragingly. She might not appear like it, but she has something motherly about herself and her energy, whether she was aware of it or not.

 

“I can’t fight like Sonic or Shadow or Knuckles, but so can’t most of the people on this planet… I think the best course of action is…” he paused for a second to think “doing what I can do best and invent something!”

 

“Invent something?” I asked curious.

 

Tails sparkled with creativity and I assumed he already had a bunch of ideas ready. “Something that will help the weaker ones to make a stand and fight, because in times like this strength comes in numbers.”


	4. Sonic's dream vacation in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention what spirit sees in everyone's auras!!! I'm so so so sorry!!!!!!!  
> https://superemeralds.tumblr.com/tagged/chaos-vision  
> here's all the art and explanations how spirit sees the world!!!
> 
> I will go back and edit odler chapters one day and i'll try my hardest to pay more attention to pointing out how he sees the world now!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter in the mean time!

Sonic woke up with a groan. He rubbed his eyes and stretched.

What happened to him… there was this… person. He was choked. His throat suddenly felt extremely dry and he swallowed. 

As he looked around, there was no sign of that though. He sat under a tree, the sky being bright blue above him. He knew this place. This was angel island! Knuckles would definitely be here, he might have an answer!

 

Sonic jumped up, light as a feather. He got ready to take off and… with a Sonic Boom he sped past the trees towards the Master Emerald Temple nearby the jungle.

 

As he saw the green glow in the distance and his friend sitting on the stairs just as expected, he came to a halt. “Yo Knux!” he exclaimed waving.

The red echidna yawned and stretched. Sonic must’ve woken him up.

“Hi, Sonic. What brings you here?” he chuckled.

“I was going to ask you. Anything strange happen yesterday or today?” Sonic crossed his arms.

“Not at all. Are you okay?” Knuckles now sat upright.

“I guess I’m fine now but… Something isn’t right.” Sonic tapped his foot repeatedly. “I remember going for a run and then Tails called me, he sounded worried. Then I remember being choked by someone I’ve never seen before and… Next thing I know is waking up under my favourite tree.”

Knuckles couldn’t help a grin. “Sonic, that just sounds like a pretty wild dream to me.” he stood up and approached his friend and proceeded to lay an arm around his shoulder. “Sometimes I fall asleep while guarding the Master, and then I dream that bat girl steals it right under my nose. That’s when I wake up and realize everything is a-okay.”

Sonic sighed.

“You probably just need a break from worrying so much about saving the world. Relax for once.” the echidna added.

“Maybe you’re right, Knuckles…” He smiled nervously and freed himself from Knuckles’ arm. “Maybe I should pay Tails a visit. Are you joining us later for dinner?”

“Bet on it!” Knuckles gave a thumbs up. 

With this, Sonic was gone in a flash, running through a too well known path towards his friends’ house.

 

* * *

 

 

“WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE IS  _ HE _ ?!” a deep loud voice echoed through the empty halls.

 

Shadow knew exactly where Eggman was, he’d been in that very room himself before. Space Colony ARK.

He listened intently but got no reply. As he took a step forward he suddenly felt a sting in his chest and got dizzy, before he knew it the ARK had shifted and he stood perfectly straight on the wall. 

“What the…?” He started running forwards where the ARK was still shifting, crossing borders of different gravity and falling along a very long hall toward the wall at the very end. He could see the earth through the windows to his side and there were so many black clouds that could only come from gigantic fires or volcanic activity… 

 

Then he suddenly heard a distorted laugh.

 

“Show yourself, coward.” Shadow grunted as he landed on the wall.

Once again everything shifted and seemed to go back to normal.

In the dark hallway ahead of him, a lone figure was hovering above the ground. They were illuminated by a faint red glow, indicating a high amount of dark chaos energy within them.

Shadow growled and entered a defensive stance, awaiting an action from the stranger.

The closer they got the more Shadow’s chest stinged. Something about this person wasn’t right, the chaos inside them… It felt broken, as if it was corrupted.

“Hello there, Shadow the hedgehog.” Their tone was very amused and teasing, it was obvious even through the fact that the mask they were were wearing. “Did you enjoy my little demonstration? My clones might not have had a chance against you, but they only have a mere fraction of my power.” Shadow could basically hear the shit eating grin below that mask. “Are you willing to do me a favour?”

Suddenly they disappeared and where they used to be was just a very distorted silhouette of their figure that slowly warped back into normality. Shadow wasn’t able to trace their path due to the corrupted chaos energy and couldn’t prepare for the frontal ambush they executed. 

“Come on! Fight me you useless lump! Let’s find out if you are really the ultimate life form!” they taunted while choking him.

“As you wish.” Shadow grunted as he repelled Infinite with a weak chaos blast. It probably was his biggest weakness, that he did not want to harm the ARK and preserve its original state. It is his birthplace after all, as well as his former home.

 

Shadow charged for an attack, but Infinite was gone. Instead, the building shifted once more and Shadow stood before an all too familiar door. The label on it said in big capitalized letters “Maria”.

Shadow stepped back in shock, he was not prepared for this. Clenching his fists he exclaimed: “Is that all you got? You think you can play with my mind like that?”

The door opened and a pale blonde girl stepped out of the room. 

“Shadow, why are you shouting?” She asked worried.

“I know this isn’t real, so stop the show and come here to fight you coward! You were the one that wanted it so badly!” he snarled.

“Shadow stop shouting, what is wrong with you?” The girl slowly approached him.

“Get this fake out of my sight, will you?” With an overwhelming force Shadow attacked the girl with a chaos spear. He’s fought Infinite’s illusions before, they always warped in on themselves until they disappeared.

However, the girl wasn’t warping in on herself. She started to scream in pain. “Shadow, why would you do this to me?” she coughed blood.

“N-no! This isn’t real. Maria died over 50 years ago. This is only one of your illusions. I’ll never be tricked by a cheap fake like this.” Shadow was shaking. He wanted to believe his words, he knew he was right. But after all this time of not remembering his sister he felt incredible pain and guilt. He could have had the chance to reunite with her, experience her love for the first time all over; but it would mean leaving the world she wanted to protect in ruins.

 

He shook his head. What was he thinking? He was here to find out what happened to Sonic! He was here to fight Infinite and Eggman to prevent further harm to anyone on Earth!

Remember what you’re fighting for; that’s what his friends Sonic and Rouge, both, told him multiple times. Never again did he want to forget a thing.

This split second of being lost in thought was what it took for Maria to stand up and hold Shadow down. The same distorted laugh escaped her lips as it had from Infinite earlier.

“How touching, Shadow the hedgehog. But you don’t have an ounce of a chance against me!” Maria licked her lips and grabbed Shadow’s head. Her hands didn’t feel like what they looked like at all… Leathered with claws on the fingertips. It was painful, but a strange force had Shadow’s chest in pain so much he had a hard time struggling. He felt something cold and sharp on his chest, but couldn’t tell what exactly it was.

 

Then suddenly, everything faded to black.

 

* * *

 

 

Sonic arrived at his little brother’s house and let himself in. “Tails, buddy, are you there?”

“One second!” the young fox squeaked from inside the airplane that was parked in his garage. Swiftly he lifted himself out and up to glide down to the ground again. “What’s the matter, Sonic?”

Sonic put his arms behind his head. “Have you noticed anything weird happening yesterday or today?”

“No, I haven’t. Why? Did you see anything weird?” Tails asked concerned.

“Well… I have this strange memory of being choked to near death when I wanted to help you…” he couldn’t look at Tails directly whlie saying this. “Knuckles said it was probably just a bad dream, but I don’t remember having laid down on angel island to sleep recently?”

Tails looked worried, but he quickly collected himself and smiled. “Well, you are still here and you are feeling fine, right? So it can’t be real!”

“Yeah that makes sense…” Sonic laughed nervously. He couldn’t help but feel like something about this so called dream was off. “Anyways I invited Knux over for dinner - what’re we having?”

Tails promptly walked towards the kitchen and Sonic followed.

“Let’s see what we have and go on from there.” he said while opening a bunch of cupboards and the fridge.

 

Maybe Sonic was really just overthinking this. While eating chillidogs with his two best friends, he couldn’t see anything wrong in the world. Perhaps they were right and he was just overly worried and he needed to relax. Let someone else take his job as hero just for one day… Or two.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks had passed. A lot had happened since the disappearance of Sonic and Shadow the hedgehog.

Before I knew it, I had become the symbol of the Resistance. Without my power, they would be helplessly lost against Infinite’s tricks.

Had I not been at a base to confirm Identities, Infinite would’ve managed to sneak in impostors. Fakes. Clones of Important people, who all linked back to Sonic. One time a Sonic clone tried to sneak into a base, pretending to having fled his confinement and having come once he heard about the existence of our Resistance.

I could also see swarm attacks coming our way and evacuate and go to another place promptly.

We didn’t know if Infinite is aware of my power, but we sure hope he was frustrated that we could evade 34% of his attacks.

 

Tails had worked in secret GUN Workshops to make practical tools that could be used as weapons for people like me, who had no strong combat abilities. 

He came up with the idea to use Hyper-go-on power from so called “Wisps”. He explained that Sonic once saved them from Dr. Eggman, who used them as living batteries for his evil mind control machine. They formed a tight bond and were willing to help out again anytime. This was a time like that.

He was inspired by the many failed weapon projects GUN had that utilized chaos energy. If someone was unable to control chaos energy themselves, then it would be hard to accurately render a lifeless machine to control it for you. Wisps however had the ability to “possess” objects and people, still granting them their free will, but transforming them into a shape that resembled their own and also granting them their power for a short amount of time.

 

Apparently their energy is like a puzzle piece that fits into chaos just perfectly; and Tails explained that its kind of like a temporary positive symbiosis.

Whatever it was, it  _ worked _ ! We named the tools Wispons (a mashup between wisp and hyper-go-on) and tried to get as many of them out to the general public of the Resistance as possible.

Infinite and Eggman’s army was weak, but extremely high in numbers.

 

Our main priority was getting the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman did, because who knew what he was capable of doing with them now that Infinite was working for him.

At that time, two were in possession of Shadow, who was not to be found. One was in possession of Rouge. The remaining four had to be tracked by Knuckles through the power of the Master emerald.

It was a race against time, finding the emeralds, finding Sonic… 

 

We should not lose hope.

 

Unknowing of all the struggles the world was going through, Sonic tried to relax and enjoy his vacation on Angel Island. A floating paradise above the ocean that housed a few of his friends. There was nothing to worry about, right? This island was the perfect spot for a vacation…

 

And the perfect place to trap someone.


	5. The Lion's Cage - but who is the lion and who's the owner of the cage?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try to update and finish this because I literally only want to share the boss and the aftermath......
> 
> Please be aware that this is not a serious fic and pretty much just brain-vomit, so it's written well in some parts that interest me, and others are very very lacking becuase I can't care less. I just don't have the attention span for consistency.................
> 
> I hope you can enjoy the plot even with all the plotholes and just treat this as the idea that it is.

Shadow woke up groaning. His head hurt and his throat was dry. He was… 

 

Home. 

 

This was his room, back on the ARK.

He carefully lifted himself up on his feet. His head was still pounding and his vision hazy, so he supported himself on the wall and marched to the door.

 

He tried to recall what happened, but he couldn't remember. This state of helplessness and amnesia… it felt awfully familiar.

Clenching his teeth he waited just a second mroe before shouting: “Anybody here?”

 

He remembered he was home on the ARK. He remembered that a girl named Maria and an old man called Gerald were very important to him - like family.  He remembered that he was a research experiment of some sort that was supposed to help find a cure for Maria. But… a big chunk of his identity was missing. He felt awfully lonely.

 

As he snuck down the hallway while turning around to check all around him, Shadow bumped into something very tall and soft.

“No need to shout, my ears are perfectly fine.” A voice said from above.

Shadow stepped back and looked up. It seemed to be professor Gerald. He was smiling, no, grinning at the hedgehog below him. 

The black hedgehog blinked at him a few times before the old man picked him up and threw him in the air gently. “If you’re lonely and want to play all you need to do is ask, my son.”

 

Shadow felt an incredible warmth, that he strangely can’t recall ever having felt before.

 

Gerald let him sit on his shoulders. “Now let’s go looking for Maria.”

 

He just couldn’t piece together what or why he felt so… wrong.

For now, though, he decided to shrug off this feeling. What could be so bad about this? Why would his father and his sister hide inesplicable malice? 

 

\--

 

Sonic counted the days. It’s been 27 days since his friends insisted he’d stay on angel island until he’d relaxed enough to get back down to the mainland.

 

More and more it felt to him as if his friends were just trapping him on this floating island, with no way to escape, against his will.

At this point in time he was well aware those people were not his friends, but some kind of fakes. Everything about this situation was too fishy. He knew angel island, he knew it well. The island he was on felt more like someone rebuild angel island based on a vague idea of it, knowing important landmarks, but not the details - like one of Sonic’s favourite trees. A big winding tree that had one particular branch that curved in on itself, forming a ring that points in the direction of old ruins that he and knuckles explored together once.

 

He was cautious, though. The fakes were not aware Sonic knew they were, in fact, fake. But who knew if they’d become hostile once Sonic makes that fact clear to them? He had to find a way off this island.

 

Doing nothing didn’t suit his style, so he decided to take fate into his own two hands, or should I say legs, and jump off the island into certain death.

 

He didn’t remember falling, but feeling like his entire body had crashed into the ground.

 

Yet he woke up in his bed in Tails’ house once more.

 

His brother came walking into the door, smiling, as if nothing had happened.

 

A cold shiver ran down Sonic’s spine. “Please tell me this is just one really messed up nightmare.” he mumbled as he pinched himself. 

Tails came closer, ignoring his mumbles.

Sonic pinched himself harder. “Wake up! Wake up!” he whispered desperately.

 

Tails shoved a cup of hot tea in Sonic’s hands, which he first rejected and caused to spill all over his lap. He let out a shriek as the cup was forced into his hands - hands that were too shocked to obey. His legs were burning he needed to cool down. 

What was Tails thinking? - No wait this wasn’t Tails. But who…?

 

Shivering against the heat on his legs he turned to face his fake brother, who was still smiling at him.

 

“This isn’t a dream, nor is it a nightmare. This is your reality now, Sonic the hedgehog. This is how you will remain for the rest of your pitiful life.”

 

\--

 

Another week passed and still no sign of Sonic. Well, at least no definitive sign.

 

Over the course of just three weeks Eggman conquered about 70% of the entire world with the help of Infinite. 

Tails was able to find out that the source of his power is probably a corrupted chaos emerald.

 

Then came the day we got word the top secret Space Colony ARK was seen active again. Everything made sense. Sonic wasn’t anywhere to be found because he wasn’t on the planet anymore, he was up there.

All of Sonic’s closest friends gathered together to make a plan to come to his aid and end Eggman’s tyranny - and I was at the center of it all.

 

“We definitely need the little puppy up there, he’s the only one who’s immune to Infinite’s illusions.” Rouge explained.

“No! He’s just a kid, we can’t object him to such a dangerous mission.” Amy interrupted.

Rouge sighed and put her head in her hands. “And how old are you, again? Or the fox boy?”

Amy inhaled and tried to counter, but there wasn’t anything to be said. Rouge was right, she wasn’t much older than him herself, most of all not Tails. “Fine, but you’re responsible for him.”

“It’s fine I’m just glad to be useful, really…” I spoke up. Even after all this time, it’s super scary to take part in such conversations with real life heroes.

“I know how to get there unnoticed!” Tails sounded determined. “We’ve been there multiple times, and I’ve improved my Tornado X to support such a trip.”

“We’re counting on you.” Knuckles nod. “Me and Amy will make sure Eggman’s army is well occupied down here, while you sneak in and get Sonic.”

 

There was a short moment of silence.

 

“Whatever they did to him, it mustn’t be pretty if he wasn’t able to bust out in such a long time.” he threw into the room.

 

“Now’s not the time to be gloomy! That’s… Not your job.” Rouge replied, looking rather distraught at the second half of her comment. She didn’t forget about Shadow, it was just so unusual for him to disappear this long. He was going to save Sonic, right? He was the ultimate life form, nothing could possibly be a real threat to him…. right?

 

Preparations were made, and tomorrow we’d be on our way to the Space Colony ARK.

 

I still couldn’t process the fact I was meant to be the one to defend everyone from Infinite.

I learned how to neutralize the illusions for other people, as long as it was just one or two who were holding my hands, so I could transfer my power to them through the touch - but this was something else. Heading into the cage of the lion headfirst, challenging it to tear you to shreds.

All those versions of infinite down on earth were illusions, so naturally all I could think of was ‘What if my power doesn’t work on the original?’

 

I swallowed my fear and turned off the lights in my room, snuggling into the right position for one last time.

 

Closing my eyes I told myself: “Tomorrow I’ll be a real hero.”


End file.
